Norfolk Southern's eastern carolina line sale

Does anyone know the specific details about Norfolk Southern trying to sell or abandon the following former Southern Railway lines? Raleigh to Chocowinity, NC; Chocowinity, NC to New Bern and also to Lee Creek, NC. I read about this in the most recent issue of the UTU newspaper. They also mentioned the possibility of a short line taking over. Are these lines lightly used? I thought that they hosted alot of chemical and paper products traffic. Thanks in advance for any help.
Justin Dzan

Answers

All of that has been in the rumor mill for some months now.
Actually, the former (original) Norfolk Southern mainline from
Raleigh via Marsden (Chocowinity), the Albemarle Trestle and
Elizabeth City to Norfolk now only goes as far as Mackeys Ferry,
north of Plymouth. There is a big paper plant at Plymouth with NS
services, but it is switched by a short line carrier (Rail Tex, I
think). There is also daily wood chip traffic from Wilson to
Morehead City via Chocowinity and New Bern. Perhaps there are three
or four trains on the line west of Chocowinity each day. It's
probably likely that line will be short lined. Lee Creek, However,
in another story. It is operated jointly by NS and CSX, and is a
major producer of traffic (phosphate mines, largest outside of
Florida). The logican connection for NS would be through New Bern
and thus on to the North Carolina Railroad (Morehead
City/Charlotte). That would make one think that the Chocowinity/New
Bern line would probably stay in the fold (right, that's a guess).
The New Bern/Goldsboro line, which has seen light to no traffic in
recent years, has recently been re-surfaced, and looks up to the job.
Hope that helps.

Pete is absolutely right in his answer(s) to this topic. Furthermore,
CSX runs from Rocky Mount, NC to Plymouth, NC. Their train carries a
good bit of freight to the Weyerhauser plant. This train has been
nicknamed "the wood train" for as long as I remember. Also, the old
original NS main line which ran from Norfolk, VA to Charlotte, NC is
to some degree redundant trackage with the North Carolina RR
(Atlantic & East Carolina Rwy) between Raleigh, NC and New Bern, NC.
Furthermore, the state of NC owns the track from Raleigh, NC all the
way to Morehead City and has been leased to NS (Sou Rwy) for MANY
years.

There are not a whole lot of traffic generating points along the old
NS line between Raleigh and Chocowinity other than the wood chip
facility, I don't believe. As Pete mentioned, the Lee Creek phosphate
operation is BIG TIME!! On the Chocowinity to New Bern line, there is
another large Weyerhauser plant and a rail car repair facility just
north of New Bern (Bridgeton) It will be interesting what ends up
happening

In the estimation of its employees, the line still has enough
existing traffic and potential to warrant NS keeping the line. They
tell me that the shortline negotiating for NS line is the G&W
(Genessee & Wyoming, I think). I understand that formal notices are
not out yet, but there is a target date of July 28. The bottom line
is that concerned men will fight for their jobs til the end, and that
minds sometimes have been changed around here.

As of March 21, 2003 there are no plans to spin off any of the
trackage of the original Norfolk Southern Railroad anywhere East of
Raleigh. Norfolk Southern has decided instead to agressivly persue
freight traffic and give personal service in the area. In fact, the
entire line from Marsden (Chocowinity) to Plymouth was recently
surfaced by a T&S gang. Also, AC power was recently run out to the
draw span on the bridge over the Pamlico River at Washingtonwhich
eliminated the bridge tender's job. The drawspan is now controlled by
the train crews who open the span, pass through it, and then leave it
open to river traffic. W.A.Sellers, Jr., Norfolk Southern Railway
(Ret.)

As of March 31, 2002 all lines east of the H-71 at Cary, N.C. have
been placed under the East Carolina Business Unit. This business unit
is run by Norfolk Southern employees with Norfolk Southern resources,
but as a short line of sorts. It has it's own General Manager and
Marketing people based in Raleigh. There has been a huge turn around
in the business since the start, it looks as if Norfolk Southern is
going to try some business units in other sections of the railroad
that are not profitable, also the Burlington Northern is also going
to give this approach a try.
As info, Buck Reed, Senior General Foreman Mechanical, ECBU Raleigh